StockNews.com Upgrades EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) to “Buy”

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

EPAM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of EPAM Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on EPAM Systems from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on EPAM Systems in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on EPAM Systems from $222.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on EPAM Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $204.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, EPAM Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.32.

EPAM Systems Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EPAM Systems stock opened at $195.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $199.18 and its 200 day moving average is $206.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.45. EPAM Systems has a 1 year low of $169.43 and a 1 year high of $317.50. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The information technology services provider reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. EPAM Systems had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 8.86%. EPAM Systems’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that EPAM Systems will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EPAM Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of EPAM Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPAM. Duality Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 10,754 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 4,061 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in EPAM Systems in the second quarter valued at about $734,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,865,123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,872,000 after acquiring an additional 39,531 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of EPAM Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 62.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 46,381 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,809,000 after purchasing an additional 17,848 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Company Profile

EPAM Systems, Inc provides digital platform engineering and software development services worldwide. The company offers engineering services, including requirements analysis and platform selection, customization, cross-platform migration, implementation, and integration; infrastructure management services, such as software development, testing, performance tuning, deployment, maintenance, and support services.